Chapter 124: The Excited Alchemy Association

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Now that she had a residence of her own, You Xiyue released both Snow Jade and Aurora.

The two still lay far apart, eyeing each other with mutual disgust.

Jun Yang looked at them in turn, puzzled. “Snow Jade’s beast rank is so low. How did it manage to fight Aurora to a standstill?”

At that, Snow Jade opened its eyes and bared its teeth at Jun Yang.

Jun Yang gave an awkward laugh. “I’m not discriminating against you.”

Snow Jade cast him a disdainful glance before closing its eyes and going back to sleep.

You Xiyue also looked toward Snow Jade. “Perhaps rank is merely an illusion. Isn’t the strength of an inner demon determined by its master?”

“That’s true.”

Neither of them could hear Xun Yu’s complaints, however. His control over Snow Jade, this inner demon, had been steadily weakening. What it grew into had nothing to do with him anymore.

After returning to the Alchemy Association, Yan Qingye took You Xiyue’s question very seriously. Thus, while refining pills, he began investigating whether there was truly something strange about the association.

After observing for quite some time, the thing that concerned him most was still the gaze of the senior alchemist named Shen Qingluo.

Mustering his courage, he went over to Shen Qingluo and asked bluntly, “Senior Shen, are you interested in my pill furnace?”

Shen Qingluo paused briefly, then smiled and shook her head. “I have no interest in the furnace. I’m only interested in the person who once used it.”

“The person who once used it?”

Yan Qingye lowered his head to glance at the teapot-shaped pill furnace in his hands, then looked up at Shen Qingluo. “Senior Shen, could you tell me who used this furnace before?”

Shen Qingluo shook her head. “It would be better if you didn’t know.”

With that, she left without another word.

Yan Qingye was left standing there, his face full of bewilderment.

Yun Jianxin walked over to the dazed Yan Qingye and gave him a push. “What are you thinking about? You’re completely lost in thought. I called you several times, but you didn’t answer.”

Yan Qingye raised the teapot-shaped pill furnace before him. “Aren’t you familiar with all the famous alchemists? Do you know who used this furnace?”

Yun Jianxin furrowed his brows and thought for a long while before finally shaking his head. “It seems none of the famous alchemists ever used such a peculiar furnace. If someone had, I would certainly remember. I wouldn’t have laughed at you the first time I saw you refining pills with it.”

Yan Qingye let out a dispirited sigh. “I just asked Senior Shen Qingluo whether she was interested in my pill furnace. She said she wasn’t. She was interested in the person who had used it before. Whoever could draw her attention must surely have been someone very famous.”

“She said that?”

Yun Jianxin took the teapot-shaped pill furnace from Yan Qingye and examined it carefully from top to bottom. At the bottom of the teapot, there seemed to be a single character engraved.

Yet among the alchemists Yun Jianxin knew of, there did not seem to be anyone with that surname.

“Perhaps that character represents the person who once owned this pill furnace?” Yun Jianxin guessed.

How could Yan Qingye know? He spread his hands and gave up. “Forget it. Let’s refine pills first.”

“All right.” Yun Jianxin quickly stopped dwelling on it and asked with a smile, “What are you planning to refine today?”

“Um... the Purple Restoration Pill,” Yan Qingye replied.

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“Why that one?” Yun Jianxin looked at Yan Qingye with disdain. He still remembered all too clearly the shape of the pill Yan Qingye had refined last time.

Yan Qingye scratched his head. “I just want to see whether I can refine it into a normal shape.”

“...”

Yun Jianxin gave Yan Qingye a complicated look. He was even more curious about how Yan Qingye had managed to produce such a bizarre shape in the first place.

“Why don’t you watch and see where I’m going wrong?” Yan Qingye had always followed the steps Mingzhu had taught him when refining the Purple Restoration Pill. Perhaps there was something wrong with the procedure.

“All right.” Yun Jianxin readily agreed.

The two of them entered Yan Qingye’s pill-refining chamber together.

After preparing all the spirit herbs required for the Purple Restoration Pill, Yan Qingye lit the fire and skillfully placed the herbs one by one into the teapot-shaped pill furnace.

The process was almost identical to the one Yun Jianxin knew.

Even when the Golden Radiance Pill Furnace appeared and filled itself with the medicinal herbs, everything was done correctly.

“There’s nothing wrong,” Yun Jianxin said, staring intently at the rotating furnace as he repeatedly confirmed it.

Yan Qingye finally relaxed. “Then it seems the problem isn’t with the procedure.”

Yun Jianxin gave an exasperated laugh. “If there’s nothing wrong with the procedure, what else could the problem be? Perhaps you weren’t careful enough before and made a mistake?”

Yan Qingye felt somewhat guilty at those words. He was no longer sure whether he had omitted any steps when refining the pill previously. Scratching his head sheepishly, he continued controlling the flames.

Dark clouds suddenly began gathering in the sky.

As the two often refined pills at the Alchemy Association, they were both very familiar with this phenomenon.

They exchanged an excited glance.

“Be careful,” Yun Jianxin reminded him.

Yan Qingye nodded heavily. “I know.”

With that, every nerve in his body tensed.

This pill was especially prone to forming pill patterns whenever it was refined.

Yet the dark clouds seemed to be gathering for an unusually long time. Normally, the tribulation lightning would have struck by now, but the clouds continued to accumulate.

Yun Jianxin glanced suspiciously at the pills inside the furnaces.

The contents of the teapot-shaped pill furnace could not be seen clearly, but the pill in the Golden Radiance Pill Furnace was plainly visible.

The medicinal herbs continued rotating and piling together, their shape becoming increasingly bizarre.

“...”

“How could this be...” Yun Jianxin cried out in bewilderment.

Yan Qingye’s hands began to tremble, and he almost wanted to give up.

“Don’t give up. Finish refining it before we decide anything. The lightning tribulation is about to strike.” Yun Jianxin stopped him from the side.

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“All right... I suppose.” Yan Qingye resigned himself to his fate and steadied the flames once more.

At last, after gathering for half a day, the tribulation clouds released the first bolt of heavenly lightning. This time, the lightning struck the pill in the Golden Radiance Pill Furnace.

“Heh...” Yun Jianxin gave an exasperated laugh. “Perhaps even the tribulation lightning likes pills with this shape.”

Yan Qingye shot him a sideways glance, then pulled his attention back and stared seriously at the Golden Radiance Pill Furnace.

The second bolt, however, struck the teapot-shaped pill furnace.

“...What is going on?” Both Yun Jianxin and Yan Qingye were utterly bewildered.

“Did it... miss?” Yan Qingye asked speechlessly.

Yun Jianxin let out two foolish chuckles. “Just keep going.”

Yan Qingye could only grit his teeth and continue controlling the flames.

The lightning struck first on one side, then the other.

“At least it’s sharing the blessings evenly...” Yun Jianxin finally began to complain, his gaze toward Yan Qingye growing increasingly complicated.

Outside the Alchemy Association, the alchemists were in even greater turmoil.

Everyone knew that the pill-refining chamber belonged to Yan Qingye.

“So how many times has the lightning struck?” Zhuang Mo excitedly grabbed Xu Chang and asked.

Xu Chang’s voice trembled. “S-Six times!”

One more strike would make Yan Qingye a high-level alchemist. Their small branch of the Immortal Realm’s Alchemy Association would no longer be able to contain such a great figure.

And the tribulation clouds showed no sign of dispersing.

Nearly every alchemist in the branch rushed outside because of the commotion, staring excitedly and enviously at the heavenly lightning that was about to descend.

In the end, the lightning truly struck.

“The seventh strike! The seventh!” Zhuang Mo’s eyes brimmed with tears of excitement as he gripped Xu Chang’s hand tightly.

The tribulation clouds finally dispersed.

Zhuang Mo and Xu Chang hurried toward Yan Qingye’s pill-refining chamber.

He had only been learning alchemy for such a short time, yet he had already produced seven pill patterns.

Everyone outside was overcome with excitement.

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